Appleton Common Council Meeting Summary – November 20, 2024
Appleton Common Council Meeting Summary – November 20, 2024
The Common Council of Appleton, Wisconsin, met on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, at 7:00 PM in Council Chambers. Mayor Jake Woodford called the meeting to order; Alderperson Fenton offered the invocation. All department heads were present, and 15 alderpersons attended, with Alderperson Alfheim excused. The meeting adjourned at 7:40 PM. The council approved minutes, heard public testimony on stormwater flooding, approved a stormwater evaluation contract, amended and approved a sludge density meter purchase, approved the balance of agenda items en bloc, and adopted an ordinance.
Consent Calendar
- Previous meeting minutes: Minutes of the November 6, 2024, and November 13, 2024 (budget adoption) meetings were approved by a 14-0 vote; Mayor Woodford abstained and Alderperson Alfheim was excused.
- Balance of agenda: The council voted 14-0 to approve all remaining action items from committee reports. These included:
- Single-source contract with Desman Design Management for 2025 parking ramp repairs and maintenance for the Red, Yellow, and Green ramps, not to exceed $96,370.
- Long-term temporary occupancy permit for a dumpster in a parking lane at 213 E. College Ave., from 11/28/2024 through 1/31/2025.
- Amendment #1 to the 2024 Materials Testing Contract with Westwood Professional Services, increasing the contract by $100,000 to a total not exceeding $200,000.
- Traffic Signal Control and Management Software Expansion service contract with Traffic Control Corporation, $102,210 plus $5,000 contingency.
- Approval of Mosaic Family Health Inc. purchased parking in the Yellow Ramp.
- Sole source purchase of four high service pump check valves from Dorner Company: $154,776 plus 2% contingency of $3,096, total not to exceed $157,872.
- Two-year extension of the audit services contract with CliftonLarsonAllen LLP for 2024 and 2025 at $81,700 and $82,500, respectively.
- Change Order No. 1 to B-24 Asphalt Paving for additional sidewalk replacement in the amount of $69,212.25, reducing contingency from $50,000 to $0 and raising the contract from $1,407,816.40 to $1,477,028.65.
- Extension of the purchase date to February 28, 2025, under the Phase II Development Agreement with Merge LLC for the mixed-use development on the southeast corner of W. Washington Street and N. Appleton Street in TIF District No. 11.
- Single-source award to Brown and Caldwell for 2024C Stormwater Quality Modeling, not to exceed $53,620.
- Amendment #3 to the 2024A Stormwater Management Plan Review Contract with Brown and Caldwell, increasing the contract by $115,000 to a total not exceeding $228,000.
- Award recommendation for the WisGo Fare Collection System from the Fox Cities Transit Commission.
- Three Board of Health policies: Succession of Delegation of Authority, Creation and Maintenance of Policies, and Creation and Maintenance of Procedures.
Public Comments & Testimony
Six residents spoke about flooding in the Northland Creek and Bellaire watershed area and requested approval of the stormwater evaluation and follow-through on actual infrastructure fixes. Their comments focused on the July 5 and July 13, 2024 storm events.
- Lisa Clausen, 907 E. Pershing St., said her street floods at least twice a year and has worsened over time. She cited a 2013 study estimating $16 million in needed fixes that was rejected as too expensive and said residents are frustrated after years of unmet promises. She asked the council to approve the study and then implement a solution.
- James Baer, 1800 E. Northland Ave., said his business sustained over $200,000 in damage on July 5 after contract work on Memorial Park severed his two six-inch drain pipes and did not reattach them. He said city staff initially promised follow-up but never returned, leaving him without answers after three and a half months.
- Rachel Peterson, 2701 N. Viola St., described 80,000 gallons of water entering her basement in five minutes, resulting in seven feet of water and four inches of mud, with total costs likely reaching $80,000 and no insurance coverage. She said this was not a 100-year storm and that an earlier city study showed the stormwater system is not sufficient for even a 25-year storm. She urged the council to invest in preventative infrastructure.
- Dexter Peterson, 2701 N. Viola St., read a letter from a neighbor at 2700 N. Viola St. asking the council to approve the funds needed to evaluate ways to eliminate or reduce the risk of a recurrence.
- Mary Peeples, 2528 N. Viola St., said her family's finished basement used for adult foster care was devastated by sewage backup after manhole covers were opened; repairs took months and displaced their client. She said the city's silence after the event was 'deafening' and asked the study to focus on solutions because the problem is already clear.
- Tracy Haack, 2708 N. Viola St., said she had nine feet of water in her basement, more than $60,000 in damage, and two full dumpsters of lost possessions. She noted that homeowners insurance did not cover the loss because the home is not in a floodplain, and she asked the council to remember the cost of inaction and to act on the study's findings.
Discussion Items
- 24-1444 - Northland Creek and Bellaire Watersheds Stormwater Evaluation: Alderperson Croatt thanked the residents for sharing their stories and acknowledged that future solutions could be very expensive, likely in the millions. Director Youngworth said the city plans a kickoff meeting in December 2024 using 2024 funds and that the evaluation will take many months, while smaller interim improvements like upsizing storm sewer pipes and changing yard drains could proceed before the full study is complete.
- 24-1457 - Sludge density meter purchase: City Attorney Barons explained a name correction: Allied Instrument was the sales representative, but the contracting company is Berthold Technologies; price and scope were unchanged. The council voted to amend the item to reflect the correct company name, then approved the item as amended. Alderperson Croatt questioned the difference between the $53,342 purchase amount and the $54,000 budget amendment; Director Omen said any excess funds would remain in unspent utility fund balances.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the November 6 and November 13, 2024 council minutes (14-0, Mayor abstaining, Alderperson Alfheim excused).
- Approved the single-source contract with Brown and Caldwell for the Northland Creek and Bellaire Watersheds Stormwater Evaluation in an amount not to exceed $301,200 (14-0).
- Amended item 24-1457 to change the contractor name to Berthold Technologies, and then approved the $53,342 sludge density meter purchase with the $54,000 budget amendment (both 14-0).
- Approved the balance of the agenda in one motion (14-0) covering all remaining committee report items listed above.
- Approved Ordinance #168-24 by a 13-1 vote, with Alderperson Hartzheim voting no.
- Adjourned at 7:40 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. I now call to order the Wednesday, November 20th, 2024 meeting of the Appleton Common Council. Tonight's invocation will be delivered by Alder Fenton. Good evening. Next Thursday is Thanksgiving in the United States. And however much we believe of the kindergarten pageant version of the origins of the holiday, we should remember that above all, the Thanksgiving story is an immigrant story. The pilgrims and Puritans who came from England and other parts of Europe were refugees seeking to start a new life in a land free from religious persecution and hard times. The Mayflower and its passengers landed in Plymouth uninvited and without legal status on land where people had lived for 12,000 years. The immigrant colonists didn't assimilate. They did sign a treaty with the Wampanoag tribe in the spring of 1621 as a form of mutual protection after the English had lost half of their number and up to 90% of the native population had been lost to European imported diseases between 1616 and 1619. The post-harvest dinner shared in the fall of 1621 celebrated a successful harvest and probably had diplomatic overtones. That dinner was not an annual event and was only deemed a Thanksgiving over a hundred years later in a footnote in a publication mentioning it. The alliance collapsed into one of the most horrific colonial Indian wars on record. Nonetheless, Thanksgiving has become a celebration of immigrants seeking a better life and of good hosts who grant refuge. We celebrate having been the immigrants when we live in a country where each successive wave of new arrivals to our shore brings new stereotypes, slurs, and unfounded fears of crime, disease, and fewer jobs for the native born. Each new group is deemed less virtuous than earlier immigrants. Let's make this Thanksgiving an opportunity to remember our collective past as refugees and to show gratitude for every person who has sought bravely to find a better life for themselves and their families and for every person who has offered a helping hand. Please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the United States of America. Indivisible liberty and Johnson. All are represented with the exception of Alder Person Alfheim, who is excused. Roll call of officers and department heads. All are represented. We have two sets of minutes here. So first of which is 24-1499 Common Council meeting minutes of November 6, 2024. We need a motion. We have a motion and a second to approve any discussion. Hearing none, please cast your votes. Hearing none, please cast your votes. That motion passes 14-0 and those minutes have been approved. I have no business to present to you this evening, so we'll move on now to public participation. At each meeting, the common council reserves 30 minutes for members of the public to express their views on items which appear on our agenda. This evening we have uh about a half a dozen who who made the sign-up sheet, but if you didn't get the sign-up sheet, don't worry, we'll make sure that everybody who'd like to speak has an opportunity, uh, so long as if we need to, the council extends discussion. Uh, when I call your name, please approach the microphone and state your name and address for the record. We ask that you please keep your comments concise and to the point and that you take into consideration comments that have been made by those who've spoken before you. And uh we also ask that you limit your comments to five minutes or less per speaker. Uh we'll be keeping track of time and reminding you as you're as your time nears expiration. Uh, we'd also ask that you address your comments to the chair, uh, so not to individual members either of the body, staff uh or or other folks who are here in the room. Uh we'd also I'd also remind you that public participation will not be a dialogue between members of the council or myself and and you. This is your opportunity to address the council. Uh so with that, we'll get started with public participation. We'll start with the sign-up sheet, and again, I'll make sure that anybody who who didn't have an opportunity to sign up on the sheet still has a chance if they'd like to. Uh so the first is Lisa Clausen. Hi, can you hear me okay? Yes. Hi, my name's Lisa Class, and I live at 907 East Pershing Street. Our house is located between North Viola Street and Lillian Court. I want to begin by saying I appreciate the council looking into the stormwater evaluation for a watershed in District 14, the Northland Creek watershed. On July 5th and July 13th, there were two storms a week apart, and our street flooded both times. The flooding in our neighborhood was a disaster.
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